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NITED STATES PATENT fission,

JAMES E. HILLS, OF NEW YORK, Y.

CUFF-BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 543,807, dated July 30, 1895.

Application filed April 17, 1 895.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. HILLs, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cuff-Buttons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates. to certain new and useful improvements in cuff-buttons, and has reference particularly to what are known in the art as link-buttons, though applicable to buttons for use with what are called barmoval of the same from the buttonholes; to

do away with springs, catches, clips, and all other movable and detachable parts to provide buttons that can be easily and quicklyadjusted to and removed from the cuffs; and to provide buttons that will not work out of position in the buttonholes, and at the same time will hold the edges of the cuffs in proper position.

It is characteristic of the invention that the buttons can be made out of a single piece of plate metal or a single strip of wire; also, that the heads may be of the same size without interfering with the easy removal and replacement of the buttons; also, that the usual shoes, as they are called, are dispensed with, and that the buttons, notwithstanding they have rigidly-connected heads, may be inserted through the buttonholes from the outside of the cuffs, instead of from the inside, as in an application now to be referred to.

In an application filed by me on .the 20th day ofjFebruary, 1895, Serial No.' 539,078, I have illustrated, described, and claimed a cuff-button consisting of two fixed heads set at an angle to each other and joined together Serial No, 546,063. (No model.)

by a connecting post or bar, the latter being eccentrically secured to the heads, and the point of attachment being at or very near the outer edges of the heads at that point on said edges where the heads come nearest together. The double eccentric connection (shown in the earlier application) is especially adapted to those buttons, the heads of which are regular in outline, and Wherever this form of head is used it will be most advantageous to secure each end of the connecting-bar to its head in this manner. In those buttons, however, having heads of irregular or indented outline-such, for'example, as those made in forms too thick to go through the buttonhole, or in the form of a fleur-de-lis, scroll, or other irregular ornamental shapesit is notalways practicable or possible to make the eccentric connection at that point of the edge of the ornamental head where it approaches nearest to the other head, and as it is only necessary to connect both ends of the bar eccentrically where it is desired to reap the fullest advantage from this feature-as, for example, in the forms shown in my earlier applicationl contemplate attaching the head having the irregular ornamental outline concentrically to its end of the bar, but I do not intend to limit myself to an exact concentric connection of this head, for the reason that there are obviously some ornamental forms of heads with irregular outlines wherein it would be entirely feasible to connect the bar at a point other than the exact center of the other head, though it would be substantially in the center.

In the former application I also showed, described, and claimed certain projections or extensions from the connecting post or bar between the inclined heads, the object of those extensions being to prevent the buttonheads from working around out of place and possibly getting out of the buttonholes, and to hold the edges of the cuffs apart and in position to look well at all times.

The present invention includes, in addition to the broad feature above explained, a specific form of these extensions from the connecting-bar, or rather a specific direction or extension from the post. my earlier application having these extensions from the connecting-bar it is necessary to insert the heads of the button through the In those forms ofholes from the inside of each side of the cuffs; but in the form of the extensions shown and claimed herein the button may be applied to the cuffs in the usual mannerthat is to say, by sticking the eccentrically-connected head through the buttonhole from the outside of one side of the cuff and through the hole of the opposite side of the cuff from the inside.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a button embodying my invention worked out in wire, as later on described. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same looking down on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the button embodying my invention as made out of a single piece of plate metal. as before referred to. Fig. 4 is an edge view of the button shown in Fig. 3 similar to Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a view of the blank from which the button shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is made, and Fig. 6 is a view similar to that of Fig. 3 of a button having one of its heads of an ornamental design having an irregular outline and the connecting-bar being concentrically attached to this head and eccentrically attached to the other head.

Referring to the views, A A indicate the heads of the buttons, which may be oval, as represented, or of any other shape that fashion or the fancy of the designer may suggest. The parts A A may be either so worked up as to constitute in themselves the heads or be left perfectly plain, as indicated in the drawings, in which case they would constitute merely the backs or foundations for the heads proper. B indicates the connecting post or bar connecting the heads rigidly together and securing them in fixed relative position at an angle to each other, preferably as shown, so as to adapt them for uniting the edges of cuffs that do not overlap. Instead of extending from the center of one head to-the center of the other, this connecting-bar, in all the figures except the sixth, extends from the edge, or a point very near the edge, of one head to a corresponding point on the other, the place of connection between the heads and the bar being at substantially that point on the edge where the heads come nearest together.

The particular an gle of the heads relatively to each other is a matter of no special consequence so long as the heads occupy an angular position to each other in contradistinction to a relatively parallel position, or a position where both heads are in line with each other. I prefer about the angle shown in Figs. 2 and 4, but the degree of inclination is variable to suit different styles and varieties of cuffs.

In the form shown in Fig. 6 the connectingpost is attached to the plain head in the same manner and at the same point as in all the other figures. The opposite end of the post is connected to the ornamental head at the center, which has heretofore been the usual point of connection.

One of the characteristic features of the forms shown in Figs. 1 to at is that the entire button maybe made out of a single piece, being bent up into the necessary shape when made of wire, or cut, stamped, or otherwise formed out of a single fiat piece when formed of sheet metal. In the form shown in Fig. 6, however, the connectingpost will not be integral with the ornamental head, or at least it would be difficult to make it so. It is, therefore, made separate and soldered or otherwise connected to this head.

In the old forms of link-buttons, where non detachable heads were employed, it was usual to make one of the heads smaller than the others, the object being to permit the small head to be pushed through the buttonholcs from the outside of one side of the cuffthrough that side and through the other buttonhole from the inside. Were one of these heads not made smaller than the other it would be practically impossible to apply the button to the cuff,,for the reason that with a large head and a centrally-connected post or eye it is necessary to gap the buttonhole wide open, which is a very difficult thing with thick or stiflly-starched cuffs. With my improvement, however, where the connecting-post is attaehed to the edge of one of the heads of the button, that head may be inserted edgewise through the buttonhole without gaping it open, and incidentally both heads of the button may be made of equal size.

As in the application above referred to, the connecting post or bar B herein is provided with certain extensions 1) b. In the present construction, however, these extensions or projections stand outfrom the connectingbar transversely to the buttonhole and substantially parallel with the edges of the cuflf, so that they bear upon the inner sides of the cuff above and below the buttonhole. The object of these extensions is to hold the free edges of the cuffs slightly apart and keep them in proper position, even when limp or poorly starched. A further object of the ex tensions is to prevent the button-heads from working around in the bnttonholes. I do not illustrate these extensions on the connecting-bar in the form shown in Fig. 6, but there is nothing in this construction to prevent their use, and I have only omitted them so as to show the broad feature of the construction shown in Fig. 6 in the simplest manner.

No particular description of the manner of making the wire construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 appears to be necessary, as the curves and convolutions are so clearly shown in the drawings that any one skilled in the art can, with the use of proper tools, work them out from a single piece or strand of wire. I have thought best, however, to illustrate in Fig. 5 the blank out of which the form of button shown in Figs. 3 and 4. is made, but the only explanation of the manner of making it that seems necessary is to state that the blank is bent in the manner shown in Fig. 4.

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The form shown in Fig. 6 is made precisely like those shown in Figs. 1 and 3, excepting that the end of the post connecting with the ornamental head representing a fleur-de-lis is secured to the head about centrally, as clearly illustrated in the figure, this connection being made preferably by soldering, as in the ordinary way.

The manner of inserting the present button into the buttonholes dilfers from that of the construction in the earlier application having the extensions from the connecting-bar, in that said extensions in the earlier construction being at right angles to those of the improvement herein embraced. The heads of the button in the earlier form had to be put through the buttonhole of each side of the cuff from the inner side, while in the present form the position of the extensions enables the button to be inserted through both plies of the cuffiend foremost, from one side, as is the usual way with other buttons.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a cuff button, the combination of two fixed heads set at an angle to each other, and a connecting post or bar,vthe latter being secured eccentrically to one of the heads at or other head, the opposite end of said connecting bar being attached concentrically to its head; substantially as described.

2. In a cuff button, the combination of two fixed heads set at an angle to each other, and a post or bar connecting said heads together, said connecting bar being secured to one of the heads eccentrically the point of connection beingvat or near the outer edge of the head and at that place on said head where it comes nearest the edge of the other head the opposite end of said connecting bar being attached substantially concentrically to its head; substantially as described.

3. In a cuff button, the combination of two fixed heads set at an angle to each other, a connecting post or bar secured to one or both of said heads eccentrically, and a projection extending from opposite sides of said connecting post or bar in opposite directions substantially parallel with the edges of the cult and adapted to engage the inner sides of the cuff on opposite sides of the button hole to hold the edges of said cufE in proper position and prevent the button heads from turning; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

JAMES E. HILLS. Witnesses:

J. A. GOLDSBOROUGH, THos. S. HOPKINS. 

